5 Short Tales of Strange New Beginnings contains the following stories:

"Windfall"Chad Barnes inherits from his uncle a hotel in the North Georgia mountains. There's one problem: Chad never knew he had an uncle. Nevertheless, Chad thinks this just might be the windfall he needs to save his marriage...or at least get his dog back. But things aren't what they seem at the Kingston Mountain Lodge and Suites.

"Us, From Evil"A decade after a second American civil war, tobacco farmer Roger Rollyson realizes that the Yankee oil embargo is going to put him out of business. He's granted an exemption, but his first fuel run turns into a nightmare. Roger must weigh the life of the woman he loves against the lives of ten thousand strangers.

"Charlie in Check"A tweaked-out trucker who sometimes sleeps in a cage joins an assassination mission to a wasteland penal colony. His co-conspirators: two living dead men who dismember each other for fun. When things go bad, he makes a decision that will change one life...and end another.

"Second Fiddle"Guitar extraordinaire Baxter had a good thing going...until his ex took everything but her credit card debt. Now Baxter plays guitar in a novelty act fronted by a raunchy redneck puppet, and he finds the life of a working musician isn't what he hoped it would be.

"His Own Path"Expatriate antiques hunter Malachi Maxwell has a great life in Köln, Germany: he makes good money, he travels around the world, and his demigod friends ensure his continued success. Everything changes when someone tosses the severed head of one of his friends into his lap. His past has caught up with him, and Malachi must confront the truth of his own actions.